We will not be intimidated

On the afternoon of May 11 there was no baseball in Morrisville. The reason there was no baseball is because people said they were bringing guns to Williamson Park.

The May 11 rally, organized by BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action, as well as more than 15 cosponsoring groups, was to support universal background checks. Current Pennsylvania law allows private sales of some long barrel guns without a background check. Currently, proposed legislation in Pennsylvania (House Bill 1010) would mandate that private purchases and transfers adhere to a background check.

There were concerns by police because counter-protestors planned to exercise their right to openly carry firearms in the park, and so police advised Little League officials to cancel or move the scheduled games. Yet Morrisville officials and organizers of the event felt the brunt of public outcry, not the people who were planning to bring guns to the park.

We never considered canceling our event because there is never a reason to cancel a peaceful rally. Supporters of our event were not planning on bringing guns to the park so we were not the problem.

When this event was scheduled we knew there were games scheduled that day. There was some misinformation printed that we were not aware of this fact. Baseball was never an issue for us.

We did not cancel our event because we will not be bullied into canceling an event because people threaten to show up with guns. People can say that if the rally was not there then the guns would not have been there, but the fact is Open Carry is the law in Pennsylvania. On any given Saturday, or any other day of the week, there could be guns in Williamson Park or at any other park in Pennsylvania. How would you feel if you were an umpire and saw parents on both sides of a game sitting there with guns on their hips?

Think about it: If people who want to openly carry their firearms say they will show up at a public picnic should the picnic be cancelled?

If you think this rally should have been cancelled because people threatened to bring guns to a park, then you should work to change the laws that allow guns in the park. We won't be intimidated by people carrying weapons.

The saddest part of this story is that baseball was made the main issue instead of gun safety. We will continue to support universal background checks and we hope that you work to support laws that make our state safer for all our citizens, including the children playing baseball in the park.

Cathy Leary

Levittown

Bill Deckhart

Fairless Hills

BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action

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